The Catfish Chronicles: Seolnal Vacation: Ice Fishing Festival: 2/2

Date: 2/6/2011

For the second half of the Ice Fishing Festival, I did something that I have wanted to do for a while--I don't know why I wanted to do it, but it has been on my Fantasy To-Do List. Bare Hand Fishing--in Ice Water. Okay, the Fantasy To-Do List is more along the lines of a Polar Bear Swim, but frankly, this was close enough for me!

After eating the best trout in the world, Sarah and I head over to location of the Bare Hand Fishing. We meet Byung Min along the way, and Scott and Katrina--who are not doing the fishing. But, then we ask Byung Min if he has ever done Bare Hand Fishing and he says No. Poor Byung Min. Don't tell us that. We ask if he would want to join us and he gets this, "Why the hell would I want to do that? But can I really say no?" and says that he's working right now, and he didn't know if Saekjin (his boss) would let him do it. Katrina, Byung Min's elder, an Adventure Korea Staff Member, and a friend with Saekjin, promptly walks over to Saekjin and asks in the nicest manner possible if Byung Min could join Sarah and I in Bare Hand Fishing. He's never done it. Byung Min's fate is sealed. Now, there's no way Saekjin wouldn't let Byung Min fish with us. (Can you hear the evil kackling laughter? I can.)

It turned out there were enough of the foreigns wanting to do the Bare Hand Fishing that it turned into a Waegook [foreigner] Fish-A-Thon. So, we line up and head into the little changing room. There were about 15 girls and about 25 guys who did the fishing, so if we were packed, I wonder how the guys felt. We strip and get into the provided bright orange shorts and grey top. And yes, since we are going to go jump in a pool of water, I went commando (Sorry, Grandma, you didn't really need to know that)--but I did not want to get my one pair of underwear wet for the rest of the day!

Then we are herded out to the pool, where a Korean man is standing in the water. Here, there was an incident which highlights why I like Koreans better than Foreigners. While exiting the changing hut, one of the guys decides he's going to try and strip. He has his shirt off, and is working on his pants before the Korean staff members stop him. Seriously? I mean, seriously? Can you be more of an ... fill in the blank? And then, even after this stunt, when we are allow to get outside, he goes and tries to jump in the pool. No....wait. He is giving us instructions. Granted, this guy was piss drunk (like half the guys in the group were) (another reason I don't like foreigners) but, it just pissed me off. I am being judged and evaluated upon based on that jackass' behavior. I have to work that much harder to be a "good" waegook because of his drunken, stupid, imbilsilic behavior. Erg...just pisses me off.

Anyway!

So, we get out to the pool and the Korean instructor is standing in the water.

He tries to run us through a couple exercises to warm up our muscles, so that getting in the water isn't as bad. But...it was lost in translation--which just makes the group of foreigners look dumb. It was pretty classic. I think he was saying, "bend on 1. 5, 4, 3..." but we all heard, "bend. Rep 5. Again on 4. Again of 3." Didn't go very well. We got laughed at--from the fairly large crowd that had surrounded us. I felt a little like I had entered a Waegook Zoo.

We finally get into the water and it's cold, but not horrible. Your arms turn red from the shock, but it was bareable. I've heard of people getting and just getting out it's too cold. But it was a pretty nice day.

So the Waegooks descend.

I touch my first fish and its slimy! Urk! Nasty! The guy next to me catches 3 in five minutes, then turns to help me try and herd a fish into my arms. I pull a girl move and shriek. That animal-lover in me just wants to pick the fish up, not dig my nails into it's underbelly and bring it into an environment where it can't breathe. But that is where I was inaccurate in my understanding of Bare Hand Fishing. You literally are fishing--you get to keep the fish you catch--for lunch. They give us plastic bags to kill the fish in. So my little dream of catching a fish, giving it a kiss, and then letting it swim back to it's fishy family was destroyed.

The Korean Instructor comes over and grabs my and another female Waegook's hand and pulls me over to the "stunned" fish. He proceeds to reach into the water and pluck out a fish for me. (Show-off)...and then I realize why they are called 'stunned.' These poor fish are basically dead. And if they weren't dead before the instructor grabs 'em, they are once they are in his hands. He jams his thumb through the fish's gills in order to hold on. When he hands me the fish, he literately takes my hand, grabs the thumb, and sticks it through the gils of Mr Fish, then puts my other hand under the belly. The fish wiggles once and then dies. I am now holding a dead fish--bleeding all over my hands. It was probably one of the grossest things I've ever done. But I make myself take the "kiss the fish" photo and then sadly, trying not to vomit, put my fish in the bag. I jump back into the water and proceed to wash my hands off.

We head back to the changing room and I am seriously having to check my stomach. The delicious fish that I had for lunch suddenly isn't sitting so well. Sarah comes by and is carrying a fish that Byung Min gave to her. We put the fish on top of the locker why we change, which results in more girlish shrieks when Mr Fish tries to do a suicide jump off the locker.

Fish Face!

Yeah???

More fish faces

Since we had just eaten the fish, we really didn't want to keep the fish. And seriously, I didn't want to hold on to a reminder that I killed the poor fish. Katrina, with her infinate wisdom, says, "Give it to an Ajamma." [older lady; grandma]. So Sarah finds a scrowling Ajamma and says, "Anneihaseyo." And then holds the fish out to her. I've never seen someone's face light up like that. The previous day was the Lunar New Year (1st or 2nd biggest holiday in Korea) and I think we started off the lady's New Year with a smile.

For the rest of the day, Sarah, Scott, Katrina, and I walk around, taking funny pictures. There were some activities: like ATV-ing on the ice, a inflatable raft ride, and such, but those cost money and the lines were long with only 90 minutes left. We didn't really want to stand there why we could wander.

Also, frankly, there are just some shots you need to get at an Ice Festival. Here is a mini-scrap book:

We can hold a South African Fish!

They had slides cut out of ice and I just couldn't resist. I actually got to yell at some kids too, they were cutting in line and I went, "Ah! Yah! Annieyo!" They got that "oh crap, she speaks Korean" look--priceless!